 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1948 |
| President | Pedro Salzedo Salom |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Country | Colombia |
| Most recent champion | Caimanes de Barranquilla (14th title) |
| Most titles | Caimanes de Barranquilla (14 titles) |
| Broadcaster | Telecaribe |
| Related competitions | Caribbean Series |
| Official website | lpbcol.com.co |
TheColombian Professional Baseball League (Spanish:Liga Profesional de Béisbol orLPB), is aprofessional baseball league based inColombia. It is a five-teamwinter league that plays during theMajor League Baseball offseason. In the past, the league's champion has taken part in theCaribbean Series, and currently qualifies to theSerie de las Américas.
The history of Colombianprofessional baseball is commonly divided into three eras: from 1948 to 1958, from 1979 to 1988, and from 1993 to the present.
Professional baseball in Colombia has its origins in 1948, when two foreign teams — theHavana Sugar Kings of theFlorida State League, and Chesterfield of thePanamanian League — played an exhibition series against theColombian national team. Shortly thereafter, business interests in Cartagena created the country's two first professional teams: Torices of Cartagena andIndios of Cartagena. Indios would go on to be the league's most successful club in its early years, winning seven championships.[1] The first era of Colombian professional baseball continued until the 1957–58 season, when a national currency devaluation forced it to cease operations.[2] Attempts to organize a new league in 1958 failed to materialize, despite fan interest.[3]
The professional league was revived in the late 1970s, and played host to some future major league stars includingCecil Fielder,Howard Johnson, andJesse Barfield.[4] However,Major League Baseball withdrew its support after the 1984 season, concerned about rising violence from theillegal drug trade in Colombia.[5]
The Colombian league returned to operation in 1993 on asemi-pro basis, known as the CopaKola Román-Davivienda, with seven brand-new teams from differentdepartments of Colombia.[6] In 1994, it returned to a fully professional format, with Caimanes, Vaqueros, and Rancheros returning from the previous era as well as a new team, Tigres, based in Cartagena.[7]
The league added two teams for the 2010–11 season, both in non-traditional baseball markets in the country's central regions: Potros, based inMedellín, and Águilas, based in the capital ofBogotá. Additionally, the Toros moved fromSincelejo toCali for economic reasons. These changes were reversed in the 2012–13 season, after Toros moved back to Sincelejo and the two expansion teams folded.
The league again added two new expansion teams for the 2019–2020 season: Gigantes de Barranquilla and Vaqueros de Montería. Vaqueros went on to become league champions in their inaugural season. They would also become the first team to represent Colombia in theCaribbean Series, after the LPB made its debut in the tournament's2020 edition (replacing theCuban National Series, which could appear due tovisa issues).[8]
After the outbreak of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the LPB established a "bubble" format for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, with all games being played in Barranquilla. The pandemic also saw both Leones and Toros withdraw from the league. Gigantes were expected to fold after the 2021–22 season, but managed to return the next year.[9]
For the 2022–23 season, the league announced it was considering adding an expansion team inBolívar.[9] This was confirmed in September, when it was announced that the expansion team would be placed in Cartagena. Getsemaní Leones de La Trinidad, founded in 1933 as an amateur team, had petitioned to join the league for over a year, but their entrance was delayed by COVID-19.[10][11] However, before the start of the season, the league announced that both Getsemaní and Gigantes would not play due to financial difficulties; instead, Toros returned after a two-year absence, keeping the league at four teams.[12] In 2023, the league announced that Leones and Gigantes would return for the 2023–24 season, bringing the number of teams back to six.[13]
Five teams from the country'sCaribbean region compete in the league.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caimanes de Barranquilla | Barranquilla,Atlántico | Estadio Édgar Rentería | 12,000 | 1984 |
| Leones de Barranquilla[a] | Barranquilla,Atlántico | Estadio Édgar Rentería | 12,000 | 2003[b] |
| Toros de Sincelejo | Sincelejo,Sucre | Estadio 20 de Enero | 10,000 | 2003[c] |
| Tigres de Cartagena | Cartagena,Bolívar | Estadio Once de Noviembre | 12,000 | 1994 |
| Vaqueros de Montería | Montería,Córdoba | Estadio 18 de Junio | 7,300 | 1984 |
The league is organized by the Colombian Professional Baseball Division (Diprobéisbol), under the auspices of the Colombian Baseball Federation.[14] The season is played from October to January.[15] The top four teams at the end of the regular season, a first round robin phase of 50 games per team, advance to another round-robin (12 games for every team) with the two best teams contesting a best-of-seven final series to determine the league champion.[16]
The league was previously owned by the Renteria Foundation, an organization run by formerMajor League BaseballshortstopÉdgar Rentería.[17] Its president wasÉdinson Rentería (brother of Édgar), whose management of the league was controversial.[18] Rentería was eventually replaced as the league's administrator by Pedro Salcedo Salom, causing a dispute that has been cited as an issue preventing Colombia's entry to the CPBC.[19]
Players such as formerMajor League Baseball shortstopOrlando Cabrera have owned teams.[18]
In 2004, the Colombian Professional Baseball League was provisionally accepted into theCaribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC). However, the league was not allowed to participate in theCaribbean Series until the level of play and the quality of baseball facilities improved.[20]
LPB first participated in the Caribbean Series in2020, and appeared in four editions of the tournament until2023. In the2022 Caribbean Series, Caimanes became the first Colombian team to win the championship, defeating theDominican Republic'sGigantes del Cibao. Despite this victory, controversy ensued when the Colombian league was again denied full membership into the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC).[21]
On April 22, 2023, it was announced that LPB would not participate in the2024 Caribbean Series; it was dropped from the tournament along with Cuba'sElite League and Panama'sPROBEIS league. The Colombian Baseball Federation said that the league refused to pay a $200,000 participation fee to enter as a guest, alleging that it had previously been promised full membership into the CPBC.[22] Instead, the league champion was slated to participate in a newIntercontinental Series organized by the Team Rentería Foundation, to take place in Barranquilla in January 2024; however, that tournament was ultimately canceled[23][24]
| † | Champions also won theCaribbean Series that season |
| † | Champions also won theLatin American Series that season |
| Rank | Team | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caimanes de Barranquilla | 14 | 1984–85, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24, 2024–25 |
| 2 | Indios de Cartagena | 7 | 1948, 1950, 1952, 1955–56, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1987–88 |
| 3 | Tigres de Cartagena | 6 | 1995–96, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2013–14 |
| 4 | Leones de Montería | 3 | 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18 |
| 5 | Filtta de Barranquilla | 2 | 1949, 1951 |
| Willard de Barranquilla | 1953, 1954–55 | ||
| Café Universal de Barranquilla | 1981–82, 1982–83 | ||
| Eléctricos de Barranquilla | 2001–02, 2002–03 | ||
| Vaqueros de Montería | 2019-20, 2022–23 | ||
| 9 | Torices de Cartagena | 1 | 1953–54 |
| Rancheros de Sincelejo | 1996–97 | ||
| Kola Román de Cartagena | 1956–57 | ||
| Vanytor de Barranquilla | 1957–58 | ||
| Cerveza Águila de Barranquilla | 1983–84 | ||
| Vaqueros de Barranquilla | 1999–00 | ||
| Toros de Sincelejo | 2011–12 | ||
| Phillips-Atlántico | 1993–94 |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| National teams | |
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| Competitions | |
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